I’m bringing brownies for everyone to snack on.  The recipe can be found here, but I used 1 teaspoon of mint extract in place of the espresso powder.

I also finished this tunic over Thanksgiving break.  It’s the schoolhouse tunic pattern.

Mine is made out of a fine wale corduroy.  I did the shoulders with a french seam to give it a more finished look and did some extra top stitching along the waist.

I also finished this honeycomb quilt a couple of weeks ago.  It was so long ago that you can see all the fold lines.

here’s the back

The kids start their winter break today.  We are all getting ready for a fun weekend.  This picture was taken this past Tuesday, this lack of snow is very un-Iowa.

recipe

I love shortbread.

It’s buttery, crunchy, travels well, and last for days.

These travelled with me to the sewing summit.

I think it’s always best to travel with cookies.

lemon shortbread

2 sticks butter (at room temperature)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

zest of one lemon

2 teaspoons vanilla or vanilla paste

2 drops lemon extract

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In bowl of mixer combine butter, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed for about five minutes, or until the dough is soft and light in color. Add vanilla, lemon extract, and ginger and mix to combine.

Slowly add flour and mix until just combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press by hand into a thick rectangle, wrap with plastic wrap and chill dough for 1 – 2 hours.

Once chilled, place dough on lightly floured surface and roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into squares. Place the squares onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the start to just turn golden on the edges. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes or so before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.

Just enough for one crumble…

My mom sent me the recipe.  We had a can of whipped cream leftover from lulu’s sundae bar and I have to admit, by the end I was adding the whipped cream right in the pan.

gooseberry crumble

3 cups gooseberries

1 1/2 cup sugar (divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

dash of salt

first make the filling-

While the berries are cooking, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.  Once the gooseberries are cooked, remove from heat and stir in spice mixture and set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 8″x8″ pan, set aside.

crumble base and topping-

In a large bowl, blend together

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cold butter cut into small pieces

Sprinkle one half of oat mixture onto bottom of pan.  Pour cooked gooseberries over top and spread evenly.  Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top of berries.

Bake 45 minutes.

fourth of july trifle cake

1 pound raspberries

1/2 pound strawberries (cut into pieces)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup powdered sugar (divided 1/4 and 3/4 cups)

16 ounces mascarpone cheese

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

pinch salt

25-30 lady finger cookies

3/4 cup blueberries

Cut two strips of parchment that are at least an inch taller than the side of your springform pan and line the inside with them. (I used a 9″pan.)

In a bowl, combine raspberries, strawberries, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, and lemon juice.  Use a fork to slightly smash the berries and let sit for ten minutes.

In the bowl of a mixer, whisk together the mascarpone and 3/4 cups powdered sugar until smooth.  Then whisk in the cream, vanilla, almond extract, and salt until soft peaks form.

Break the ladyfingers into three pieces each and make a single layer of cookies on the bottom of the pan.  Top with half the berry mixture.  Spread half the mascarpone mixer over top of the berries, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.

Then repeat, a layer of cookies, then berries, then mascarpone.

Top with a layer of blueberries.

Wrap gently with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.

I spent an evening last week knotting strips of scrap fabric on to a piece of twine.

Lulu wanted a camp theme so we set a plan for an afternoon in the backyard with a tent full of balloons and games like bocce and basketball.  Then it turned out to be the hottest and most humid day we’ve had this year.  We still had the tent, but went with a water fight to try to cool off.
Then they painted birdhouses.

They decorated bangle bracelets made from popsicle sticks. (here they are undecorated)

They made paper fortune tellers and signs for their rooms.

We had a sundae bar with all the fixin’s along with cupcakes.

After all of that, they each went home with their own hobo bindle filled with goodies…

…and I slumped into a chair and didn’t move for hours.

We always called them chocolate oaties, instead of Linda’s cookies.  Why limit your mom to one special cookie when she could be making all sorts of great ones?

There are the thing to make, when you don’t know what else to make, especially when the weather turns hot and you don’t want the oven heating up the kitchen.  Basically, they are quick, simple, and everyone likes them.

The trick is in the boil, not too hot, you want the sugar to melt before it starts to boil so the cookies have smooth texture.  Also, wait to start your three minute count until after you reach a rolling boil (that’s when the mixture continues to boil even while stirring it).  These are really more of a candy than a cookie, so it also helps to have a heavy bottomed pan like you would use for candy making.  It helps heat the mixture at a more even rate and keep it from scorching.  Sometimes even when you think you’ve followed all the rules, they still don’t set up and the only way to eat them is to scrape them off the tin foil with a spoon.  Don’t worry, just call them spoon oaties and enjoy!

linda’s cookies (chocolate oaties)

2 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 stick butter

5 ounces evaporated milk (one small can)

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (you can use crunchy, unless you are making them for cj)

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2 cups quick cooking oatmeal

Lay a sheet of aluminum foil (or as we call it tin foil), about 18″ long on your counter.  In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, stir the sugar and cocoa powder together (this keeps the cocoa from clumping together).  Add the stick of butter and stir in the evaporated milk.

Place over medium heat and stir constantly.  Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil (still boiling even when stirring) cook stirring continuing to stir constantly for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in oats, peanut butter, and vanilla.  Drop by spoonfuls on the foil and allow to cool.

This means my grandma had to have a cake on hand every week.  It’s a good thing they raised their own chickens, because that’s a lot of egg whites.

She usually left it unfrosted and when we were at her house she would pull the aluminum cake carrier down from on top of the fridge and we would all get a slice.  Only once, do I remember the carrier open to show a frosted cake.  She used a seven minute icing.  So fluffy and swirly, I always thought it was one of the most beautiful things, and sooooo delicious.

Sometime after I was married, I asked her for the recipe.  She pulled out her Betty Crocker cookbook and found the recipe and gave me a few hints to help it turn out just right.

Her first suggestion was to throw away the non-stick coated tube pan I had at home.  She quickly found this extra pan hidden away on a shelf in her basement and gave it to me.  Angelfood cakes need to climb to the top of the pan and if you don’t give them a good surface to climb on, they will slide.  Do NOT prep the pan in any way – no butter, no flour – the batter needs to be able to stick to the pan.

As for the eggs, they shouldn’t be too fresh.  I don’t think this is much of an issue if you are using store bought eggs, but if you pick them up at the farmer’s market or raise your own, be sure to use eggs that are from last week or older.  Also, eggs that are cool separate easier, but eggs at room temperature will have more volume when whipped.  What I usually do is separate all my eggs and then let the whites set in the mixing bowl at least while I get together all of the other ingredients.  Depending on how much time I have to make the cake I may let them set until they are closer to room temperature.  It’s also important to measure the eggs, especially if you have farm eggs that vary in size more than store eggs.  The recipe takes 1 3/4 cups egg whites.  On average that is 12 eggs, but when I made this cake it took 14 eggs.  I freeze the yolks for another day.  I either put them in a plastic container and freeze them in groups of 6 (lemon curd takes 6 yolks) or I put each yolk in it’s own compartment in an ice cube tray.  Once frozen they can go in a zip closure bag and be used as needed for things like egg noodles and puddings.

My grandmother didn’t sift her cake flour for this recipe.  I’m thinking if you are making one of these cakes every week, your flour isn’t setting around long enough to get too lumpy.  After some trial and error, I find it’s best to  shake my flour through a sieve before I make the cake.

Over the years I’ve heard people mention the importance of dropping the pan on the floor or tapping in on the counter once the batter is in the pan to remove any air bubbles.  Grandma never mentioned this and I’ve never done it.  I have never noticed any giant air bubbles in my cakes, so I have always skipped that step.

angelfood cake

1 3/4 cup egg whites

1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cup cake flour (sifted)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour and the salt, set aside.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy.

With the mixer on a medium speed, add the sugar 2 Tablespoons at time.  Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer on high and whip until soft peaks form, but are still moist and glossy.

For a soft peak, it should turn like the top of a dairy queen cone when you turn the whisk upside down.

Add salt, vanilla, and almond extract.

Dust about 1/4 of the flour mixture over the whites.

Using the biggest rubber spatula you can find, gently fold the flour into the egg whites.

To fold you bring the blade of your spatula down through the middle of the bowl, once at the edge closest to you, pull along the bottom and up the side to turn the whites over on top of the flour, then turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until the flour is incorporated.  Then sprinkle with another 1/4 of the flour mixture and fold.  Repeat until all the flour is added to the egg whites.

Scoop mixture in tube pan.  Try not to get it on the upper part of the pan.  If some gets on the top, just wipe it clean with a damp cloth.  (you can see here where I swiped a bit away on this one)

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from oven and invert to cool.

Some pans have little legs on the side, but this pan has a tall center to balance on.  Once the cake is cool, run a knife of offset spatula around the outside edge and also around the center tube.

Then run the knife under the cake and turn out onto a plate.  You can use an angelfood cake cutter (because it looks cool) or even two forks (held back to back and used to split pieces) to cut the cake, but I find a serrated bread knife works best.

If you have the patience to frost it, here’s a cheat version of 7 minute frosting.  I should warn you though that if you frost it, it severely hampers your ability to sneak pieces of cake because it is a mess of gooey sticky goodness and having that on your fingers will surely be admission of guilt.  You can see it here on some angelfood cupcakes.

cheaters 7 minute icing

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine egg whites,salt, sugar, and corn syrup on bowl and whisk together.  Place bowl over pan of simmering water.  Gently whisk until mixture reaches temperature of 130 degrees and sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and beat with hand mixer until the icing is cooled, white, and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla.